If you thought a ballad was just a love song, you’re not wrong. However, a ballad is a poem that tells a story and is typically set to music. Keep reading to find out more about them!
Key Takeaways
- Discover the Structure of a Ballad
- The Different Ballad Types
- Examples of Ballad Poems
- How to Write a Ballad Poem
Structure of a Ballad
This type of poetry has a long history, and the musical version is said to have started as a folk song. This continues today in popular music, and many love songs we know today are considered ballads.
A typical ballad consists of stanzas that contain a quatrain or four poetic lines. The meter or rhythm of each line is usually iambic, which means it has one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In ballads, there are usually eight or six syllables in a line.
Ballads are poems that tell a story and are often set to music. Many modern love songs are considered ballads.
Like any poem, not all ballads strictly stick to these rules, but even if they don’t, nearly all ballads are narrative, telling a story. Like a song, ballad poems have a musical feel thanks to their ABAB rhyme pattern. Limericks are an excellent place to start if you're new to rhyme patterns.
Characteristics of a Ballad
Again, not all ballads are created equal, but they generally have the same characteristics:
- Every ballad is a narrative—a short story in verse. The poet completes the story in only a few stanzas. John Keats’s ballad La Belle Dame sans Merci is an excellent example.
- Ballads have a universal appeal. They are usually based on universally understood subjects, no matter where you’re from. For example, John Keats’s ballad La Belle Dame sans Merci touches on the subject of women, convincing the readers that most women are double-crossing evil beings, which is far from the kind of subject matter you'd get in a haiku poem that typically covers nature.
- Instead of flowery, extravagant language, ballads use common everyday words – adding to their universal appeal.
- Unlike other kinds of poems, ballads have an abrupt opening. The poem starts abruptly without providing any details about the subject matter.
- Dialogue is also an indispensable feature of a ballad. The story is mainly told through dialog. John Keats’s ballad, La Belle Dame sans Merci, is a complete dialogue between the speaker and the knight.
- Another remarkable characteristic of a ballad is the use of a ballad stanza. Every ballad is written in a ballad stanza, which consists of four lines with an abab rhyme scheme. The first and third lines have four accented syllables, while the second and fourth lines have three accented syllables.
- The use of supernatural elements is a key feature of a ballad. Coleridge and John Keats’ ballads are good examples of this.
- Ballads tend to be quite simple and are easy to read and understand.
Consider enrolling in poetry classes to dive deep into the art of poetic expression. These flexible classes allow you to learn from anywhere and at your own pace, allowing you to explore various poetic forms and techniques.
Ballads often address universally relatable themes using simple, everyday language, making them easy to understand.
Types of Ballad
There are two kinds of ballads: the folk and the literary ballad. We can differentiate them according to whether or not they have a written form or not. However, over time, folk ballads may actually become literary ballads.
Folk Ballad
Folk (or traditional ballad) is a ballad with no written form. It is verbal poetry passed down generations through word of mouth. Variations on them are common, but they're not like free verse poetry.
Throughout the ages, it picked up the traits of the time and underwent considerable changes. The traditional or folk ballad has no individual author; it was the product of many poets.
Literary Ballad
The Literary ballad is an imitation of the traditional ballad. The only difference between the two ballads is the ownership. The author of the literary ballad is a known personality, while the author of the traditional ballad is anonymous.
Unlike folk ballads, the text of the literary ballad cannot be changed over time, as it is preserved in hard copies. The poet is the legal owner of their ballads rather than the folk ballads no one owns. Similarly to sonnets, ballads are best known for offering structured beauty in poetic form.
Literary ballads are unsurprisingly more polished and lengthy than traditional ballads. John Keats, Samual Coleridge, Wordsworth, and many other poets are famous for their ballads.
Folk Ballads: Passed down orally with no single author.
Literary Ballads: Written by identifiable poets and preserved in text.
Here’s a look at John Keats’s ballad La Belle Dame sans Merci:
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing!
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful, a fairy's child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery's song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
'I love thee true'.
She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild, wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
lines!
Writing a Ballad
We think you know enough now to write a ballad, but we'd recommend practicing a lot before moving on to longer and more complex types of poetry, like epic poems.
Keep in mind what you’ve already read. If it helps, you can think of a famous love song as inspiration. Here are our tips for writing your own ballad:
- Most often, ballads are love stories, but you can make your ballad about any event. It can be about you, someone you know, a relationship, or an experience. It can be good, bad, tragic, or magical!
- Ballads are a way for you to share any experience. When picking your story, make sure that it has a distinct introduction, a plot with a problem, and a resolution to the problem. Remember, you don’t have long to tell your story, so make sure you can tell it in a short poem.
- The first line of a ballad is the most important because it introduces the reader to the story. Remember earlier when we said ballads often have an abrupt opening? Try to do the same with yours. Reel the reader in from the very beginning. Maybe you can begin with a question or directly address the reader using “you” to immerse them into your story instantly.
- For this type of poem, you can pick your rhyme scheme. Most commonly, though, there are four groups or stanzas of three lines with an AAB rhyme scheme where the first two lines rhyme and the third line is different.
- Ballads are unique as poems because they have choruses, much like their musical equivalents. Typically, the third line of each stanza is the chorus, so make sure that this line is relevant throughout the entire story because this chorus will be repeated many times in the poem. Your poem’s rhyme scheme will most likely look like AAB CCB DDB EEB, with the same line at the end of each stanza.
- Since ballads tell stories while using rhyme and repetition naturally, they are perfectly adapted for turning into songs. Maybe you can try adding music to your new poem or simply giving the poem to someone you love. If you enjoy the performance aspect of ballads, you may also be interested in slam poetry.
Ballads often use a repeated line or chorus in each stanza, mirroring the structure of a song.
To start writing a ballad, consider this particularly short but excellent one by Emily Dickinson titled Never for Society.
Never for Society
He shall seek in vain—
Who His own acquaintance
Cultivate—Of Men
Wiser Men may weary—
But the Man within
Never knew Satiety—
Better entertain
Than could Border Ballad—
Or Biscayan Hymn—
Neither introduction
Need You—unto Him—
Ballads are a great way to flex your storytelling skills and test your rhyming skills. If you need some help with writing, whether for an exam, a university dissertation, or even if you just want to write as a hobby, Superprof tutors can help.
You’ll find many online poetry classes on the Superprof website that can adapt to your needs. They are all experienced, knowledgeable teachers and can help you reach your goals. The fantastic point of poetry is that there are many different ways to express your ideas once you have tried ballad poems.
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